Sydney Sights – Explore Taste of Manly

A taste of Manly not only lets you see what food we have to offer but also gives you a taste of this beach town in it’s full glory of people, music and community spirit.

The Discovery

I grew up in Manly. I love coming back and visiting all my childhood spots ( I might do a couple more posts here as there are so many more places I love to visit). Taste of Manly however was one of the many events that I had no idea about. To be honest I didn’t know about it until my friends invited me to go. I thought it was the food and wine festival, who knew there were multiple food events, hey, I ain’t complaining. Any mini festival is always a joy to go to. There are markets every weekend in Manly, music is a heavy influence and the surf and skate scene is large. So off the bat I knew that this event would be great fun.

With a heavy influence of keeping food local, sustainable and looking after the environment the event has many stalls full of good healthy food. Alcohol galore, I mean there was a lot of wine stalls. Artists were around drawing murals of sustainable living and keeping a look out on how to treat the environment better.

Why I love it

Who doesn’t love food, music and people? Okay some people may not like the crowds but there are enough places that once you grab a bite you can filter away and sit in peace, maybe head to Delwood while you’re at it. I’ve also always loved a good stroll around Manly, I get very nostalgic seeing as it was my childhood play ground, to me nothing is better than a nice sunny day with friends walking around seeing what Manly has to offer.

Cheese. Enough said. Obviously the first stall we visited, who doesn’t love good cheese. My friends literally bounded towards it. I love a good creamy cheese and I want to get more adventurous, so it’s stalls like this that push me out of my comfort zone. The brie was divine. I can only usually eat a couple slices of brie and then my body wants cheddar but I could’ve had the whole circle of cheese. It was coated in coconut ash and let me tell you if I wasn’t broke I would’ve bought a lot of it.

What to do

Food: The reason we are all here. It is the taste of Manly, there were so many choices and cuisines to pick from. It is great to know that the locals create so many delicious meals and that we could all come together to celebrate them.

Music: There were 3 main music stages, each with different genre’s of music. It was awesome seeing the different crowds ranging from kids to elderly all getting their groove on while the sun set on Manly beach.

Drinks: Wine, Cider, beer all for the taking. Okay well not taking it still cost money but you get the picture. The perfect opportunity to try new drinks on the shore line.

Art: There were a few artists along the festival painting, drawing and creating murals. There was a sand sculpture as well which I always find fascinating to look at, how people get that much detail is insane.

Beach: Volleyball nets are available for games, picnic with your chosen food with the beach as your backdrop, I’d say swimming but this is in our winter so unless you’re a surfer you may want to re-think taking a swim in cold water.

Walking: Take a stroll along Manly beach, through the corso and all it’s hidden lanes, head up towards Shelly Beach. It is very easy to aimlessly stroll around Manly and find a hidden gem.

Our final dinner and cuisine of choice was Spanish Chicken and Seafood Paella. We all saw the sign and went a little mad. It was gorgeous and made me miss Spain, so thank god I’ll be heading back this year. The line was pretty long and kept growing so you knew it was going to taste amazing. The perfect heart warming food to help through a winter evening by the beach.

How to get there

If you live on the beaches all it takes is the bus, if you are visiting and are staying in the city just head down to the city wharf get on the ferry and straight onto manly corso (Wharf 3 is the Manly ferry and should run every half hour or so). The festival stretches from Manly Corso onto the beach front. You won’t miss it.

I may be biased but I think Manly is the beach to see when you visit Sydney, Bondi may have that title, but it is full of tourists and expensive cafes. If you want a chilled atmosphere, beautiful scenery and in my opinion just a great place to relax, Manly is your go to. If you ever get the chance to visit Sydney I’d attempt to pick a time where one of our festivals are on to get a good experience of our community.

Do you have any mini festivals involving your community happen in your city? I’d love to know so I can try and see them some day!